A mattress typically comprises a resilient core and a cover including top and bottom layers joined about their periphery by a border. The handle is attached to the mattress border before the attachment of the top and bottom layers to the mattress border. Hence the description to follow deals with the attachment of the handle to the border.
Typically, the handle has a flexible extent, having at each end, anchors, including a clip extending toward the other end while diverging from the flexible extent. The mattress border is provided with a pair of spaced apertures to receive the handle anchors. The spaced apertures are preferably defined by grommets. The grommets, in addition to attachment to the mattress border, preferably attach a back strap to the inside of the mattress border.
The grommet openings thus coincide with openings in the back strap.
By `grommets` herein I include the standard metal grommet well known to those skilled in the art but also equivalents thereof. Such an equivalent can include a plastic member with a central opening, a flange which engages the outside of the border and a short tube which extends through the border opening to be formed around the edge and fastened to the back strap to be described. At the time of preparing this application the conventional metal grommet is preferred since it is not certain that the plastic can be fastened to the back strap with sufficient strength.
When the handle has been installed on the border the handle anchors are located on the inside of the border and the adjacent portions of the handles extend through the grommet openings. Clips on the anchor contact the adjacent grommet and prevent the inside to outside movement of the anchor through the adjacent grommet opening.
Under lifting pulls on the handle the clips bear on the grommet to transfer the lifting force from the handle to the mattress border.
A good example of the handle described above is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,703,415; dated Mar. 18, 1955, to Bechik.
Presently a handle of the Bechik type is manually attached to the grommets (and hence, to the mattress border and back strap) by inserting each anchor through the grommet, from outside to inside with the clip resiliently deflected inward in passage to pass through the grommet. The clip then extends outwardly to contact the grommet and hold the handle in place.